“Sometimes” replied The man of medicine, “But other things “Produce it. There’s a man’s diathesis; “There’s worry, over-work, sometimes disease “Suffered in childhood, leaving an effect “Like soil, all fertilized for such seed as this. “He should have drunk no whisky, yet he drank “Not half so much as Winston Prairie thought. “But you can see if whisky caused this thing “All whisky drinkers would be sure to have it, “Or die of it if not killed by a train.” We left the carriage, having reached the place Where Cato Braden’s grave was dug, and stood Together in a company of fifty And heard the pastor pray for heaven’s lessons From Cato Braden’s life. And after that We separated, made the horses trot To reach our different destinations. I Looked up Will Boyden for a little talk Before my train left for the city. Will Was in his office with his sleeves rolled up, Cob-pipe in mouth, typing a legal paper, A narratio in slander, so he said. He smiled from ear to ear and dropped his work. “You’re here for Cato’s funeral,” he said, And added, “It’s a shame he had to die, Damned if it isn’t.” Then I asked again Why Cato Braden died at fifty-one, And Will said: “Winston Prairie, Illinois, Killed Cato Braden.” “Tell me what you mean?” Then Will refreshed his pipe and talked to me: “I’m fifty-two and good for twenty years I have no stronger frame than Cato Braden, But then I got a formula for life As time went on, and it was one that suited My nature, and I thrived as you can see. I have the power to draw the nutriment Out of this soil, and I get strength thereby Wherewith to overcome the things that kill. I work, but then I play, I hunt and fish, I read and sometimes take a little trip. I don’t drink whisky, not because I fear it, But I hate putting in myself such fire-- Beer and light wines are pleasant, more like food Than stimulants. Well, Cato Braden started When ‘Over the Garden Wall’ was all the rage, ‘All Coons Look Alike to Me’ was my Key-note for starting. You know what I mean: Between my day and his there’s just the difference That lies between waltz time and syncopation; Between the magic lantern and the movie, The rattan phaeton and Ford machine. These new things came along before he died, But he had made his life for the old things, Could not adjust himself, De Senectute And Valparaiso had not taught him how To reach out in the world from Winston Prairie And get the new things for his life. But if They taught him how he lost the secret here. For after all a place like Winston Prairie Will kill your spirit just as surely as The Island where they cooped up great Napoleon.